Otawara, JP. Any info?

[Yaacov]

There seems to be some cool places you can visit. Odawara is apparently a part of an area called Kanagawa. You should check this out: http://www.kanagawa-kankou.or.jp/englis ... awara.html

[chikara]

.... Odawara is apparently a part of an area called Kanagawa. You should check this out: http://www.kanagawa-kankou.or.jp/englis ... awara.html

Yes, Odawara is in Kanagawa and it is the main transit point on the way to Hakone by train (which is why I have been there) and it does have a castle (which I didn't have time to see, sorry Tony) but the OP is interested Otawara.

[Tornadoes28]

Yeah, I have spent a lot of time in Otawara visiting my wife's relatives. And yes, it has nothing to do with Odawara. Utsunomiya is the next closest large city. Utsunomiya has a nice traditional indoor mall called Bell Mall. Check out Wikipedia for info on Bell Mall, Utsunomiya (I created that article). It is about 40 minutes from Otawara by car. Also on the way to Bell Mall is a big shopping center called Aeon. You can also check out Wikipedia for info on Otawara where I also added the vast majority of the info.

Not as much in Otawara. They have a small indoor shopping mall called Tobu. Right in the center of town. There is a McDonald's at Tobu. Some good restaurants in the area around Tobu as well as other areas of Otawara. Some good ramen places but I don't remember the name.

A nice tourist area in the mountains is called Nasushiobara about 45 minutes north of Otawara (North of the Shinkansen station). There is a decent Italian restaurant up there.

By far the most interesting place in the general area and a must see for all visitors to Tochigi is Nikko. Nikko is a very historic town in Nikko National Park about 45 minutes west of Otawara by car. Nikko has some of the most historic and coolest temples and shrines in Japan. Are you familiar with the See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil Monkeys? They are from Nikko. The famous original carving of these monkeys are on one of the temples.

There is no Starbucks in Otawara (one at Bell Mall) but there is a Mister Donut that has good donuts and decent coffee.

It is a small quiet (boring?) town. I actually like it because it is such a slow paced small typical Japanese city. Great for taking long walks and seeing average Japanese neighborhoods unlike any I would see in America (Los Angeles).

[Tornadoes28]

ok

[furrykef]

Yes, and if you actually read chikara's post, you'd realize it said that.

[keatonatron]

Like Yaacov said, Chikara really needs to get his locations straight. We're talking about Otawara, NOT Odawara. Got it Chikara??

[Tornadoes28]

OK OK